Acts of Kindness
by Ikuinen Talvi
Summary: Ren Takashi has had a long and painful life that ended up with him in the last few months being on the streets of Republic City, stealing to survive. When he has a strange encounter with a certain detective, his life seems to be turning around for the better. OMCxMako, gay, eventual romance. Rated T.
1. A Strange Encounter

"Hey! Get back here!" Someone shouted behind me. I couldn't help but increase my speed. I dodged behind a building and ran down an alley, cut a corner, and shoved myself into an alcove behind a dumpster. Breathing heavily, I leaned forward and placed my hands on my knees, trying to calm my breathing and my racing heart. In my bag, I carried another bag full of apples that I had just (unfortunately) stolen from a vendor. I stood up and stopped breathing the moment I heard footsteps by the alley, but when I checked a few moments later, no one was seen.

My name is Ren Takashi, and I'm the only child of Katsu and Asuki Takashi. Unfortunately for me, both of my parents died when I was very young, and I have nearly no memories of them; I ran out of the small amount of money that they left behind for me months ago after I left my grandfather's home. Unable to find work, I had no other choice but to start stealing in order to live. It had been easy, of course, when the entire police force of Republic City had been focused on the impending doom that was Kuvira's Earth Empire tyranny and her forces closing in on the city, and the Avatar seeming unable to do anything. Those few weeks were easy for me to get by because no one was left in the city with the exception of a few beggars like me.

Straightening up, I headed around the corner that I had just run from and started down the alley, whistling to myself with my head down. I had almost made it back to the street when I bumped into something and looked up, startled.

"Sorry," I said before I realized that I was looking into the eyes of the cop who had chased me. Shit. He was tall, his hair sleeked back, golden eyes narrowed with suspicion, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Could you open your bag for me?" He asked, and I was surprised to find his voice so pleasant. I bit back a groan by biting my lip and reached around to open my bag. The plastic covering the apples gleamed against the sun as he pulled it out. He examined it for a moment, and then looked at me in disgust. I must admit, I wasn't a pretty sight. My usually shiny black hair was dirty to the point of appearing dark brown, and my already tan skin was dirty to the point of making my skin appear darker as well. My clothes were dirty and ragged, and I had lost weight due to not eating well enough. "Stealing _is_ illegal, you know." He growled.

I said nothing, my eyes dropping to the ground. Still, I couldn't help the loud squelch that came out of my stomach. I heard him sigh and he grabbed my wrist and pulled me along behind him. After a few moments of this, we stopped in front of the merchant who I had stolen the apples from, who was glaring angrily at me.

"Caught him have you? Good! I hope he suffers the punishments of the law!" She scowled, holding her hands out. Surprisingly enough, the cop dug his hands into his pockets and shoved some money into her hands.

"Here. Now, apologize." He said, turning to me and thrusting the bag of apples into my hands.

"I'm… sorry," I said, looking at the merchant. The surprised look on her face echoed my emotions.

"You think payment and an apology will fix it?" She groaned, looking at the cop, who rolled his eyes.

"Look, its payment isn't it?" He argued. I was about to walk away when he reached a hand out and grabbed my wrist once more. "Hold it." The woman looked like she was about to argue, but a customer walked up and she turned her attentions to him instead.

The cop dragged me along once again until we had made it to a Satomobile. "Get in," He ordered.

"Umm…" I started, but he glared at me pointedly.

"Don't argue, or I'll be forced to arrest you," He said. Without another word, I got into the vehicle and deposited my bag between my legs. He got into the driver's side and a moment later, we were speeding through the streets of Republic City. The ride was long and awkward. I kept making small glances at him, but he gave no sign of wanting to speak. After a few minutes, we pulled up in front of an apartment building. I looked at him, but he said nothing and got out. I followed suit, and walked behind him into the building and into an elevator.

"I'm Detective Mako," He said after a couple moments of silence.

"Okay…?" I asked, looking at him.

"It's polite to introduce yourself after someone else does," He grimaced, looking at me.

"I… uh… I'm Ren Takashi," I told him. He raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. A moment later, the elevator opened to a small hallway that only had two doors. Mako went to the door on the right, and I followed him. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, beckoning me to go inside. I was careful not to touch anything. With as much dirt on me as I had, I didn't want to make his place dirty. "Why did you bring me here?" I asked him as he walked into the apartment and looked at me.

"You need help. I've been where you are; before I was a cop, before I started helping the Avatar, and before I was a Pro-Bender, I was homeless with my brother. So, I'm going to help you get on your feet," He said, his expression softening slightly. "Starting with a shower."

A moment later, I found myself in his bathroom and standing in a shower, water cascading off of my body. It had been such a long time since I had taken a proper shower that I reveled in the feeling of the hot water hitting me, the steam rising and making the bathroom hazy. I couldn't understand why this Mako guy was being so nice to me. Surely he should have just arrested me. Obviously, I knew that he felt like he had a connection to me, but I couldn't help but feel like something was up. I was shocked at the amount of dirt that was coming off of me. It couldn't have been _that_ long since I had taken a shower. Somebody might have thought I was an earth bender with all of it.

After I was done, I dried myself off using the towel and dressed in the set of gray pants and the white shirt that he had set out for me. Brushing a hand through my now soft and shining hair once again, I determined that I desperately needed a haircut due to the shaggy look and the shoulder length it had grown to. I searched through the drawers in his bathroom and pulled out a pair of scissors. I stood in front of the mirror, grinning to myself, and snipped away so that my hair was a bit shorter than the Mako guy's had been.

My brown eyes glanced at my reflection happily. My face had gotten very thin just like my body since I had been on my own. This made me look mildly emaciated; my cheeks had sunken and my cheekbones had become overly prominent, more than they used to be. My eyes had the sunken look of someone who hadn't been sleeping well, which was true if you considered the fact that I had been sleeping on the ground in alleys. There was still a mildly handsome charm about me, which managed to not completely depress me; I wasn't a vain person, but knowing that I still looked nice was a confidence booster. I stowed the scissors away and swept the hair into a bin in the corner. Picking up my exceptionally dirty clothes gingerly, I exited the bathroom and found him sitting on a couch anxiously.

My cleaned transformation must have shocked him. His eyes were wide, his mouth open in a small 'o' and his eyebrows were raised. He stood up and took the clothes from me and then walked over to a hamper in the kitchen where he dumped them, before returning to me, the look of surprise still on his face.

"You… clean up nicely. Did you cut your hair while you were in there?" He asked, glancing at my hair.

"I did," I answered.

"Well, you can stay here for the night. My shift was coming to an end anyway when I found you," He said.

"What? No, I can't do that!" I said, shocked.

"You can, and you will," He argued. "It would be wrong of me to show you some kindness and then completely put you out. Besides, you look starved. You need some food and some actual rest for once."

I tried to argue with him, but he wouldn't listen to me. Finally after an hour of me trying to protest, he slapped his forehead and glared at me. "If you won't stop pestering me about how it isn't fair for me to just take you in without repayment, you can start by helping me cook dinner," He growled. I conceded, but I helped him cook the dinner anyway. It was quiet. We made a soup of some kind, but it was good nevertheless.

I washed the dishes after we ate, and was trying to sneak out when he had his back turned, but he chuckled and whipped around quickly. "You won't be getting out me helping you know."

"I don't understand anything that's going on. Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked angrily.

"Maybe because I'm a nice person," He said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't really know kindness do you?"

"Of course I do!" I lied. Growing up hadn't been easy. With my parents gone, kids at school would make fun of me for not having them and having to be raised by my grandfather. He hadn't been easiest person to get along with on the planet. I shuddered at the memories of my 'punishments', which had consisted of very harsh beatings. Of course, I hadn't let any of this effect who I was. I knew that, if circumstances had been better, I would be nice and kind, and probably doing the same things that Mako had done for me.

"I don't think so. Anyway, you'll stay here tonight. And don't even _think_ about trying to leave. I'll know, and I'll stop you," He said. After this, he brought me a pillow and a blanket and I stretched out on his couch, still trying to wrap my head around what on earth was going on here.


	2. Unlucky Meetings

**A/N: I'm surprised at how short these chapters are. I'm not sure why they are either, but it could be that I'm feeling a little short on creative energy, especially after having finished writing** _ **Change of Heart**_ **. So, perhaps I'll take a break off of writing for a few days and start back up again in July with both of the new fics. Until then, here's a chapter to tide you over. Hope you enjoy it! Please remember to review.**

The next morning, I woke up to the smell of something cooking. Mako was frying something in the kitchen, already dressed in his uniform. He glanced over and smiled after seeing that I was awake.

"Good morning. Care for some breakfast?" He asked, indicating the pan. I nodded and a moment later he handed me a plate. We ate in silence, and after a couple of minutes, he glanced up at me again.

"So tell me, how did you wind up on the streets?"

"Well, my parents died when I was young, but they left me what little money they had saved. I lived with my grandfather until about a half of a year ago. I ran out of the money that my parents had left me after a couple of months, and because I couldn't find work I wound up on the streets," I explained, focusing on my now empty plate.

"So this could all be averted if you could find work?" He inquired.

"…Yeah," I said after a moment.

"I'll see if I can find you something to do. My boss is always looking for assistants, you never know," He said, before standing up. "I'd better get going. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need. I have a spare key outside under the mat." And with that, before I could even thank him, he left.

"What on earth?" I asked myself after he had been gone for a couple of minutes. Why, _why_ was he helping me? Not that I wasn't thankful for it – I hadn't felt this put-together in months. I just didn't understand what his motivation was. What did he get out of helping me? 

I stayed sitting where I was for a few more minutes before I got up and looked around. His apartment had the signs of a person who lived alone usually, but who was hardly ever here to live in it. Everything had a place, although there were evidences that he hadn't been cleaning. So, I made that my task. I washed the few dishes that he had left sitting after breakfast and started cleaning the kitchen.

It was quick work. I took a towel I had found lying on the counter and used it to clear out the dust before doing the same thing through the living room and the bathroom. After this, I took another towel and damped it from the sink and used it to wipe down the newly dusted surfaces and counters. After finishing the bathroom, I headed for the hamper where my dirty clothes were still sitting, and dropped the towels into it before picking the hamper up and set off in search of the laundry room.

I had been under the assumption that the laundry would be in the back of the apartment next to the bathroom, but I was wrong. I opened the door and shouldered my way into it with the hamper and found myself in his bedroom. I couldn't help myself but to take a look around. It was normal – a nice bed, a dresser, a desk.

As I passed the desk, I couldn't help but let my eyes wonder over the papers that cluttered it. A few were bills, others looked like work papers, and a few looked like letters. On the corner of the desk was a picture frame that I picked up to look at properly. Inside were pictured Mako and someone who looked a lot like him standing alongside someone that looked like the Avatar and another woman I didn't know; they looked happy enough. The Avatar was pretty, and looked vaguely familiar to me for some reason, although it wasn't because I had seen her picture multiple times throughout the years. Shrugging, I sat the picture down and turned to the door, and found myself facing the other man who had been in the picture. He had his fists raised and looked angry.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my brother's apartment?" He asked.

I held my hands up, my eyes wide. "I'm sorry, my name is Ren Takashi. Mako is letting me stay here for a bit," I explained hastily.

He looked surprised, and for a moment, I thought he would believe me, but then his eyes narrowed. "My brother? Letting someone randomly live with him? I don't think so."

"Please, trust me! He'll tell you!" I said desperately. "I was just cleaning the apartment and was about to do laundry!"

"Hey Korra! Asami! Come in here," He called over his shoulder before turning to face me again. A moment later, the two women from the picture appeared, looking at me curiously. The man explained what he was seeing as me breaking in to Mako's house, and I hastened to explain that Mako was letting me live here.

"Bolin, he doesn't look like much of a fighter," the one named Korra, who looked like pictures I had seen of the Avatar said. "And his story seems to hold up. But since when has Mako just let someone live with him? I was under the impression that he enjoyed his silence."

"Exactly!" Bolin said.

"Well, obviously the only way we're going to get to the bottom of this is to talk to Mako," Asami said.

"Talk to me about what?" Mako's voice came from behind the others. A moment later he appeared, looking confused. "Ren? What are you doing in my bedroom?"

"Is this guy living with you?" Bolin asked, gesturing to me.

"Yeah, I brought him here last night…" He said, glancing at me and then back at his brother. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for you," Korra said. "Tenzin sent us."

"For what?" Mako asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, he just said to bring everyone to Air Temple Island," She said, shrugging.

"Are you even a bender?" Bolin asked me. It was clear by his tone that he still didn't trust me, and I couldn't say that I blamed him. To walk into your brother's apartment and find someone there that you hadn't met before… I would be suspicious, too.

"I don't know," I answered. They looked confused as though I had told a bad joke that they didn't understand. "A couple of months ago I was in a tight spot and sort of… jumped… out of the area I was in. But it wasn't your normal jump because I was in an alley and the only way out was up, so…" I explained.

"You're probably an air bender. After the Harmonic Convergence a few years ago, they started popping up randomly. I thought we had found everyone in Republic City though," Korra said.

"How is that even possible?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"It's a long story. Anyway, we need to get to Air Temple Island," Korra said, looking around at the others. "Since you aren't sure whether or not you could be an air bender, I suggest you come with us. It's the only way to figure it out once Tenzin gets a look at you."

"Are you sure?" Bolin asked, his eyes narrowing at me once more.

"Oh get over it, Bolin. He's fine," Mako sighed.

Bolin didn't say anything more, but as I followed Mako out of the room, his eyes, still narrowed, watched me the whole way. When we got outside I turned for Mako's Satomobile, but he chuckled and shook his head before steering me toward what I recognized as a flying bison.

"Wow," I said, amazed. Mako helped me get onto the bison, and I sat, uncomfortably, next to Mako and Asami.

"So any clue what Tenzin might want?" Mako asked as Korra climbed into the saddle with us.

"Nope, but he sent Jinora to find us and bring us to the island," She answered, indicating the girl dressed in Air Nomad clothing who was sitting at the bison's reigns. She turned and waved before introducing herself to me.

"I'm Jinora, Tenzin's daughter. I'm also a master air bender," She smiled warmly.

"I'm Ren," I answered.

"Speaking of being a master air bender," Korra said thoughtfully. "Jinora, do you think you could tell if Ren was an air bender? He could be someone we missed when we were rounding them up."

"I'll check when we get to Air Temple Island," She said, looking at me curiously before turning to her bison. Moments later, we were up in the air and racing toward the large statue of the previous Avatar, Aang. It had been damaged severely in the war against Kuvira, but the city had somehow managed to find the funds to restore it to its original form.

"Where is the island anyway?" I asked Mako.

"Just passed Avatar Aang's statue," He responded. I smiled happily as the wind whipped past me, and although my eyes stung mildly, I couldn't help but think that just maybe, things would be changing for me, for the better.


End file.
